BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — One-time Republican candidate for New York governor Carl Paladino, whose published insults of former President Barack Obama provoked a public uproar, was removed from Buffalo's school board Thursday for improperly discussing teacher contract negotiations.State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced her decision Thursday, a day after Paladino protesters disrupted the school board's latest meeting with calls for his ouster.The protests have been happening since December, when Paladino, who helped chair President Donald Trump's campaign in New York, told a local arts newspaper he wished Obama would die of mad cow disease. But it was a later article written by Paladino that led to his removal.

GOWANDA, N.Y. (AP) — A family hike in a western New York gorge turned tragic when a mother and father died after falling off a cliff and their 4-year-old son was seriously injured, authorities said.The bodies of Amanda Green, 35, and William Green, 33, both of Buffalo, were discovered along with their injured son Alexander in the Zoar Valley Gorge shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard said. Rescuers found the couple's 7-year-old son, Jacob, walking nearby.The 4-year-old was airlifted to a Buffalo hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. His brother was also taken to the hospital to be checked out for unspecified non-life-threatening injuries.